Pentax Long Term Value

I think this is quite heartening for those investing in Pentax kit, as we do tend to buy and sell over the years...

I have the MX on eBay at the moment and also a Canon A1 with f1.4 lens and power winder. Both items starting at the ubiquitous £20.00.

What I find interesting, apart from the presence or absence of bids, is that the MX has had 118 views and the Canon has had just 18. The long term prosepcts of the two marques in terms of resale value seem very clearly signposted by this.

People know quality when they see it.

This is certainly encouraging for us Pentax shooters - though being a relative newcomer I have'nt amassed much of a collection as of yet; I'm still absolutely certain that my choice of sticking with Pentax has not been misguided.

In a few years to come when I have the lens collection I REALLY want I can be comfortable in the knowledge it will keep it's value better than most other brands.

Could the lens mount have something to do with it?

Canon dropped the FD mount around 1987, Pentax are still using the K mount. As we've seen over the last year or so K mount lenses are readily available and increasing in value. Where are the FD lenses/

That's just my opinion mind, the build quality, ability to STILL be repaired at a good price and size could also be factors.

John I sold a canon rebel x for £9.00 with kit lens And now i can't get a mx under £50.00

James

Gave the other canon away in the end with lenses

The lens mount certainly helps I'm sure. We can use almost any Pentax lens we find.

Another factor might be design - the Pentax cameras are elegantly simple to operate, with few pitfalls that could damage the camera. The Canon is a mass of mysterious switches and interlocks and needs the instruction book to get it right.

In terms of quality the two Canon zooms are flashy in a Chinon sort of way and the engraving is nowhere near the standard of say an M or A series lens. I've no doubt the performance will be very good though.

Another interesting thing is that two of three Tamron lenses from the same package are riddled with fungus, whereas the Canon and Pentax ones are not. They were in the same bag as well, so maybe Tamron lenses of the 1970s - 1980s are particularly vulnerable.

Just seen that you can buy a new K20D ?...at Amazon. I never knew they were new ones around.

Price wait for it.....£998.00..wow

advertised in the same section Pentax showing the K7 with a lower price than the K20D.

How about that.....


Have some good thoughts !!

regards

albert

My apologies Guys in my last post I did not include that the price of the K20D includes a 16-45 lens.

But Park cameras got these lenses in at £239.00.

Still shows the value of the K20D body at £759.00

encouraging:

regards

albert

It doesn't really matter about the LTV though does it? Surely what does matter is the performance, and even more importantly, how much pleasure the camera gives you. I seldom part with my old cameras anyway. They may not get used but, like a good book, they become old friends.

Back to the original post for a moment.

When Canon took the decision to make the EOS mount incompatible with the older FD lenses that was it as far as long term value was concerned for their older bodies and lenses. Same thing for Minolta and their change from the MC/MD mount to their A series mount.

Now look at Pentax and Nikon. A much better approach when they moved from manual focus to auto focus by ensuring people with fantastic old glass could still use it on the latest bodies. Perhaps the original Pentax - K and Nikon - F mounts were much better by design in the first place and allowed for this upgrade path when it became clear users wanted auto focus. Or perhaps the marketing men saw a golden opportunity to force people to dump their old glass and buy new. I do not know. What I do know is I am very grateful I can take a 30 year old lens and use it either on one of my film bodies or the K10D.

The only fly in the ointment as I see it was the crippling of the K mount, so I am forced to use the stop down metering work around, which as has been discussed at length on the forum and does not always work that well. Still I am hopeful in some future camera body this matter will be resolved, either by restoring the full mount or making stop down metering more accurate.

Just my opinion.

Cheers,

/Ian

It's probably someone selling via Amazon who has new old stock of the cameras hanging around. I know there was someone selling brand new MZ-60s for £100 with 28-90mm lens on ebay last time I looked.

Pentax gear does seem to be on a continual rise at the moment, but I'm not sure how long this will continue for. I see a fair number of listings with things like "selling Grandad's old camera, don't know much about it", so could the eventual end of the baby boomer generation cause a flood of cameras to online auctions?

I agree about the intuitive design, which has continued to their DSLRs. I've only consulted the manual for my K-m twice, as for my older 35mm SLRs I've only bothered to download manuals to check what mysterious buttons do (usually exposure lock or backlight compensation). You could easily pick up an MX with only basic photographic knowledge and take decent photos with it.

Supposedly the best Canon body ever made, at least according to a couple of canonites I know.

As for the resale value of Pentax I agree that backward lens compatability is the main reason the gear holds its value, users will be more tempted to buy something thats compatable (to a degree) with their existing kit, I have no doubt that one of my canon friends would buy an A1 tommorow if he could use his current lenses on it.

I'm pleased I bought my K20D last year - £650 new with 18-55, filter and Lowepro case. Much better value than the Canon/Nikon alternatives. LXs seem to be doing pretty well on the used market, too.

Most Spotmatic models, ME Supers and, for some strange reason, MG bodies all seem to be appreciating rapidly.

I know the first two are a joy to use, but the MG, really is a bit point and shoot!

As for lenses, anything Pentax and almost anything with a K mount seem on the up as well.

I think the MG is probably the best of the point and shoot SLRs - it does at least tell you what shutter speed it plans to use, unlike the MV and MV1!

The KX/MX/LX all seem to be holding their value well. The LX was always an expensive rarity for most people as it was intended as a pro camera, and it's still on many wish lists as one of the best film SLRs ever made. I'd like one but simply can't afford it at current prices.

I paid £50 for a scuffed and slightly dented but functional MX last year, I wouldn't want to swap it for a perfect one if I'm honest. I do wish that the flash hotshoe worked but as I never use a flash it doesn't cause much trouble, besides which the sync sockets work if I need one.